Part I · Before the first seed
The plot began as a measured piece of ground, a weather-aware plan, and a promise to learn from whatever happened next.
Small enough to know plant by plant. Large enough to feed a season of questions.
The beginning
The Boonville garden was built as a working family plot: vegetables for the kitchen, herbs and berries for a wider homestead, compost returned to the soil, and enough structure to compare choices from one year to the next. The notebook began with measurements because every later decision—rows, water, succession, and harvest—depended on knowing the ground.
The goal was practical: turn a family-scale piece of ground into food, useful skills, and a record honest enough to improve the next season. The plot did not need to be large. It needed to be close enough for daily watering, scouting, harvest, and small corrections.
A homestead measured in attention, not acreage.The working rectangle measured 14 feet by 9 feet, with its long axis running southwest to northeast. That orientation—and fixed landmarks visible at the northeast end in early photographs—gave every later row note a shared point of reference.
14′ long × 9′ wide · SW → NEInitial tilling changed the site from compact ground into a plantable bed. The first pass was only the beginning: weeds and clods still had to be removed, the surface leveled, and the soil read after rain before planting could begin.
Tilling creates access; preparation creates a bed.Finished compost and balanced fertilizer were worked into the planting areas, then later compost top-dressings reinforced individual rows. The soil-building strategy stayed modest and repeated rather than relying on one oversized application.
Prepare once · top-dress when the crop shows need.The first left-center-right plan placed potatoes and onions on the left, carrots and onions through the center, and onions, lettuce, and spinach on the right. Warm-season production rows, two brassica rows, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and succession space completed the compact system.
Every row had a spring job and a possible second job.Drip tape turned irrigation into short root-zone events rather than blanket watering. The system was paired with a simple rule: rainfall counts. Wet soil cancelled the schedule; dry soil—not the clock—started the drip.
Usually minutes, never automatic.Cool-season crops established first. Hardened tomatoes and peppers entered the plot April 26; beans, squash, zucchini, and okra were direct-sown May 7 after weeding and balanced fertility. Moist soil from rain meant no extra water on sowing day.
Plant for the conditions in the bed, not only the date.The earliest observations were functional: after late-April storms there was no pooling, every crop remained upright, and splashed soil was brushed from leaves to reduce disease risk. Those photographs established the journal’s method—show the condition, record the response, and return to see the result.
APR 28 · upright plants · no standing water.Early photographs & observations
Before the pictures became lush, they worked like evidence: orientation, soil condition, drainage, and whether a new transplant was still standing.
The 14 × 9 rectangle is oriented by the southwest and northeast ends before the rows become visually crowded.
Tilled soil is leveled, obvious weeds and clods removed, and compost incorporated where roots will establish.
No pooling, transplants upright, and splashed soil dusted from foliage after the April 28 weather check.
The first planting days